Cleveland fans can't get enough Johnny Manziel gear

Johnny Manziel poses with his jersey after being selected by the Cleveland Browns at the 2014 NFL Draft at Radio City last week in New York. Manziel's jersey has taken over as the top seller in the NFL.(Photo: Gregory Payan, AP)

Story Highlights

Sales of Manziel jerseys lead all rookies, and he's even claimed top spot among all NFL players

Browns, seeking to minimize distractions, barred national media from his mini-camp debut

One radio analyst says if Manziel plays well, he'll surpass LeBron James in local celebrity status

CLEVELAND – Francine Clark's Mother's Day present came five days late.

Clark's grown sons drove to FirstEnergy Stadium last Sunday, hoping to snag their mother a Johnny Manziel jersey, a perfect gift for a longtime season ticket holder. But the Clark boys discovered they were too late – the team shop was all out. Mom's jersey wouldn't be ready till Friday.

Clark showed up Friday morning, shortly after the store opened, and grabbed her new No. 2. She slipped in on over her shirt, put on a new Browns ball cap and hurried outside to take her first picture in front of the stadium wearing her new gear. She threw back her head as she made Manziel's cash money hand sign.

This isn't Clark's first jersey. Her collection at home in Solon, Ohio, includes three other first-round quarterbacks: Tim Couch's No. 2; Brady Quinn's No. 10 and Brandon Weeden's No. 3.

"Hopefully this one will be forever," Clark said.

Clark was one of more than a dozen Browns fans to filter through the team shop in the first hour it was open Friday morning, nearly all of them leaving with a jersey. White ones with brown letters. Brown ones with white letters. Women's jerseys. Children's jerseys. Double XL men's jerseys.

All of them with Manziel's name across the back.

"It's been wonderfully crazy," store manager Mary Darmstadt said. "And it will be crazy all summer."

The main display table inside the shop is all about Manziel, with two different Manziel Nike T-shirts, two racks of jerseys, and a variety of draft-related items.

Want to buy a jersey for cornerback Justin Gilbert, the No. 8 pick? You'll have to get that specially made. Want a veteran player, such as Pro Bowl players Joe Haden or Joe Thomas? You'll find those closer to the back. If you really want a deal, jerseys for Trent Richardson, Colt McCoy and Weeden are 75 percent off.

"I've had one or two orders for Gilbert. A few people who want their names personalized – their name with No. 2. But mostly it's Johnny, Johnny, Johnny," Darmstadt said.

Manziel's jersey remains the top seller among all NFL rookies, and according to data from NFLShop.com, Manziel has the league's top-selling jersey of any player since April 1 – more merchandise sold than Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning, Colin Kaepernick and Tom Brady.

More people have purchased a Manziel jersey online than ordered those for Tim Tebow, Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck on their draft weekends combined.

Not bad for a backup.

But such is the dichotomy in Cleveland, where Manziel is already the biggest sports star in town a week after the Browns drafted him with the No. 22 pick.

Is Manziel the face of the franchise, as the merchandise rush and season ticket sales show? Or is he a faceless rookie backup quarterback, which is the message out of team headquarters in Berea, where the franchise is trying to keep Manziel out of the spotlight.

That seems like an impossible task. In the last week alone, Manziel has appeared on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated and was the main topic of conversation on Cleveland sports radio. His mini-camp debut generated so much national interest that the Browns chose to shut the doors to all non-local outlets. Even the Cleveland media was limited to a 20-minute viewing period and brief news conference on Saturday.

"This guy is a huge megastar. You knew that when you drafted him. If he plays well, he's just going to become a bigger star and the media train isn't going to stop," said Adam "The Bull" Gerstenhaber of 92.3 The Fan radio.

"If he doesn't play well, this is all going to go away eventually. To try to stop the train or the circus or whatever you want to call it, it seems foolish for the Browns."

VIDEO: Manziel not fazed by backup role

Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is happy to get to work and prove himself to his new team.

Gerstenhaber estimated about 75 percent of his listeners are all-in with Manziel, and have embraced the arrival of a bona fide celebrity athlete. Though Manziel is just the latest in a string of first-round draft pick quarterbacks – and is vying to become the 21st Browns starter since 1999 – he carries a cache unlike any Cleveland athlete since LeBron James.

"LeBron was the one chance to win a championship, and he was a local guy. I don't know if Manziel is quite as big as that yet, but I will tell you, if he plays well, I think it will beat LeBron. I really do. If he leads the Browns to the playoffs, it would be bigger than LeBron," Gerstenhaber said. "If the Browns win a Super Bowl, there is going to be bedlam like you've never seen in your life in this town. I can't even imagine it."

Internally, the Browns are trying to keep that pressure off Manziel by having him go into training camp in July behind Brian Hoyer on the depth chart. Head coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer have said before and after the draft that they would be fine with having a rookie quarterback, even one as touted as Manziel, wait to play – and they might even prefer it.

It's a strategy that worked in Green Bay, where Aaron Rodgers initially backed up Brett Favre, and San Diego, where Philip Rivers waited behind Drew Brees. But neither of those players entered the league with as much fanfare as Manziel, or were as immediately embraced by the city as Manziel has been in Cleveland.

Former NFL head coach Herm Edwards told USA TODAY Sports he can appreciate the Browns' plans to limit Manziel's media availability, given the spectacle he watched happen in 2012 with the New York Jets and their uber-popular backup quarterback Tim Tebow. Pettine was the Jets defensive coordinator at the time.

But that's from a PR perspective, Edwards said. It will be a different issue to prepare the Browns' locker room for Manziel's massive off-field impact. Edwards said it reminds him of Joe Montana's arrival in Kansas City in 1993, when Edwards was an assistant on Marty Schottenheimer's staff. Edwards recalled talking to players such as Derrick Thomas and Marcus Allen and Neil Smith – huge NFL stars, but not like Montana.

"You think you're famous? No, he's a celebrity," Edwards said.

At least one fan back at the team shop wasn't caught up in Manziel mania. Michael Rotman was not looking for Manziel gear. The Cleveland resident was waiting to get a custom jersey made as a gift for his uncle's 70th birthday. Rotman said buying a Manziel jersey now was just too much of a risk.

"No way. ... I don't trust the system," Rotman said. "Honestly, I'm a little jaded. I wait to get excited. I'm not excited now. I'm apprehensive, but I'm a Browns fan, and I always will be. I'd like to see us win more than eight games. If we won nine games, I'd be a happy fan, you know?"